Martial Tai Chi™

Thinking Allowed

Faith vs. Knowledge?

Both knowledge and faith are themselves just concepts and neither one should be idolised - that would be idolatry.

Regarding knowledge specifically - perhaps the matter is less whether or not there ultimately IS a hard fast, "yes or no" answer to any given problem, but whether or not one should be concerning oneself with trying to ascertain at all costs what that answer is. Maybe "knowing" is not always the most important thing and the universe would be better served by a person "doing" something on faith right now, rather than thinking about a problem any further. It is quite easy to see how this might be reasonable in a crisis situation, but I'd suggest that it probably applies more broadly than that. One can spend a lot of time in speculation and thought that ultimately just goes in circles, often just entrenching itself, or at least never goes anywhere very useful. Thought should not be idolised.

Regarding faith, perhaps the flip side of the hard-nosed materialism that idolises the speculation it sees as "knowledge", is the liberal new-age thinking that states that faith / positive thinking is enough. It certainly isn't enough from an ethical standpoint. If there is such a thing as moral right and wrong, which there is whether we successfully discern it or not, it matters what we put our faith in and crucially for what purpose.

When a thought arises, think about what to do with that thought. Ask yourself how useful it is and how it might improve the universe before giving it additional thought or bringing it to the fruition of speech and / or action. Sometimes the most useful thing to do with a thought is to let it dissipate and to let it go without any anxiety: just because you had an idea does not automatically mean it was valuable. Recognise too that quite often the needs of the individual and the needs of the many are the same - they are not always in conflict - so letting a thought go need not necessarily just be done for your own sake or just for the sake of others, but for the good of all. Recognising that everything G_d allows to happen or makes happen is for the best and nothing happens by chance can take a big weight off your shoulders which can help with clarity of thinking. Anxiety certainly never helps.

Perfection?

How do we know we'd even recognise perfection if we saw it? It might just be that when we look at the things around us, it doesn't appear perfect to our own personal sensibilities, but perhaps that is directly because our perspective is limited.

We get brainwashed by the media into thinking the universe is broken because it focuses so heavily on bringing us only the bad news. We don't get news reports on the happy dog walking exploits or the kind hearted neighbourliness that makes up so much of real everyday life for so many people, the world over, whether in rich or poor surroundings, peaceful or not.

Books such as Hitchins' "How Religion Ruined Everything" assume the world is ruined when it might be perfect as it is, with wars, suffering and all. It could certainly be argued that he personally has little to complain about - there isn't much he lacks, apart, perhaps, from happiness. Personally I'd put his evident dissatisfaction down to his lack of faith in G_d, but I wouldn't like to wind him up any further by telling him.

Individuals aside, maybe the amount of struggle in the world is the right amount. In fact, maybe it is ultimately even best for the individuals experiencing it and not just those who are not directly affected by it. We each have our time in the sun, but we all ultimately die too and are food for others, so things should not necessarily be seen as revolving solely around us or even other people or things that we personally happen to care for a great deal.

It is certainly true to say that having certain material needs met does not improve happiness. Studies have shown that levels of contentment and happiness are not higher in developed nations than un-developed ones, in fact it is more likely that the reverse is true. It would appear that our capacity to take what we have for granted and always hanker for more, bigger, faster, newer etc. gives us a predisposition to dissatisfaction, but then maybe that's what keeps progress going: maybe we need that. Perhaps Boredom is a virtue - Howard Devoto will be pleased!

More generalisations...

Ultimately, as I get older I find discussions such as this one increasingly boring and pointless. My old brain is getting tired of trying to make sense of everything and arrive at soundbites, conclusions and answers. It has become apparent to me that the process itself of trying to find out all of the answers is something younger people strive for and when one reaches a certain age, one can grow increasingly fond of not worrying about things.

And instead of wanting a smaller iPod or one that can project old episodes of Dr.Who onto the ceiling, we'd just like our copy of iMovie to be more stable. Sometimes we'd prefer if things were set up to do simple things well, rather than being so aquisitive for new possibilities. As I get older I incline more towards qualitive rather than quantitive concerns. Philososphy certainly fulfils no purpose in itself and ultimately the purpose of a thought matters to me. Purpose can and does outrank intention or cleverness for me right now if I have to take a stance on such a thing, which I probably don't as the subject wasn't even a question until I raised it.